Heart to Heart
by ElyssiaLysander
Summary: Two hearts were separated when their world fell to darkness. Years have passed, yet both still have those strange dreams. As their memories of one another slowly begin to fade, they begin to wonder. When the two finally meet again, will their hearts even recognize each other? A story about family, love, and finding home.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I own absolutely nothing of Kingdom Hearts. This is a story I have wanted to write for years, but I suddenly got the passion back in my life to write it. If you'd like to review, favorite, or follow, I would so much appreciate it. Alright, please enjoy Chapter 1 of Heart to Heart! ^^

* * *

 **1**

 _People were screaming. And running. Tears were fogging up my eyes, but I could still hear the stampede happening around me. Pointed nails dug deep into my ankles. I had stopped for too long. I broke out into a run again. I wasn't going to leave her until I was absolutely sure… sure that I couldn't save her._

 _That there wasn't anything left to save. A gasp scraped at the back of my throat. She would be fine. She was just a kid. She'd have to be fine._

 _My eyes were jumping from face to face as they fled past me. I couldn't see her. I couldn't find her. I was just about to give up. I was turning around, and then I saw them._

 _They were slipping through the crowd, heading back towards the castle. My mouth went dry. I called out to them. Over and over, but they didn't stop. I took a second to breathe… and then I was running after them._

I woke with a start. Sticky sweat soaked through my shirt. My head whipped back and forth, my arms coming up to cradle my sides. My bedroom. Traverse Town. I took a deep breath.

I was safe.

"Another nightmare?" Leon leaned against the doorframe of my room, a deep frown tugging at his lips. I didn't respond, so he let himself in. He took slow, steady steps over to my side. As he passed, he flicked on the lamp at my bedside table. I grabbed the glass of cold water from his hands.

"That bad?" He settled down at the end of my bed. I must have been loud enough to wake him. He patted my foot, which was about as comforting as he could get. I appreciated the sentiment.

"Same as usual." I'd been having these dreams for years now. Ever since that night.

"Emme." His hand had found its way into mine. I didn't like the sympathy that was etched into his face, but I held onto his hand just the same. "We'll find them. We will." He stood from his spot, keeping a tight hold of my hand all the while. My eyes were filling with tears again.

"But for now, this is our home."

* * *

 **KINGDOM HEARTS**

* * *

"Well, good morning. I almost didn't expect to see your lazy bum up at all today." Yuffie's voice was the first one I had heard that morning. I gave her a tight smile as I passed her to enter the kitchen. There was silence for a moment before she followed after me. I reached the refrigerator door, opening it, and assessing the little food we still had. It must have been a while since someone went out to shop. I collected a few things in my arms, checking off a list of ingredients in my head.

"Hey." Her head was peering over the top of the refrigerator door. She was frowning too. "You okay?"

I took a second (a long second), and then took a deep breath. I turned to meet her concerned gaze. "Y-yeah. Yeah, for sure. Just a… long night. I'm going to run some errands. Do you think Aerith would mind cooking this up for lunch?" I shoveled the food into her arms. She teetered from side to side with the added weight.

"Oh… um, not at all! I'll tell-" I grabbed the family coin purse off the counter. A scowl itched at my lips. I turned slowly to face the space where Yuffie used to be. The food was scattered across the kitchen table and I could hear her scurrying up the steps.

"I thought you were a _thief_! You _steal_ everything! How did you manage to spend… This was for the family!" I roared after her.

"Cid told us to start breaking those bad habits, remember? Have fun with the errands, Emme! See you tonight!" Her bell-like voice tittered down from the floor above me. I pouted, counting the petty amount of coins left in the sack.

"And don't forget the ice cream!" I glared up the steps, hoping my frustration would reach her from here.

* * *

The streets were lit and buzzing with life from all the morning shopping. I struggled with the things in my hands, slipping the grocery list deep into my back packet. A little bag of food for Cid's breakfast was tied to my belt loop. It clacked noisily against the mandatory blade Cid made all of the kids keep with them when leaving the hotel. Even though the residents of Traverse Town lived (for the most part) in harmony, new people were arriving every day. The newbies were always pretty unpredictable. Scared and lost. It wasn't uncommon for a fight to break out when a new batch appeared.

I had gotten just about everything. The new shipment for the Accessory Shop, Aerith's favorite tea, ingredients to make at least ten large meals for the week, and even the ice cream. I was making my way over to the Accessory Shop when I heard it.

A scream. A blood-curdling, teeth-chattering, spine-tingling scream. My hand immediately fumbled for the knife at my hip. It was dull and I didn't particularly have any training with such a thing, but some weapon was better than no weapon.

I checked my surroundings. Once. Twice. There was nothing. I inched closer to the door leading to Traverse Town's First District. I just had to make it to Cid, and it would be fine.

Another scream came. This time, it was closer. I broke into a dead sprint for the door. I heard the sounds of nails scratching the pavement behind me. I pushed my legs to move faster and didn't dare to look behind me. I was almost there, when I felt a hand tug at the back of my boot.

I crashed to the ground. Bags and food littered the ground around me. I chanced a glance at the hand that had now gotten a better grip fastened tightly around my ankle. A man, tears streaming down his grubby cheeks, stared piteously back at her. His face was ground into the pavement, as a lanky, little shadow dug greedily into his back. A shadow.

My body was cold. I couldn't speak. I just watched, as the man cried even louder. What… And then it was quiet. An almost crystalline object was ripped from the man's back. His eyes were still watching me, but they were empty now. It was a heart. The object was a heart. I held my breath as the heart began to rise, soaring eerily into the night sky.

And then the shadow's eyes were watching me too. They were golden. Almost beautiful, yet so angry. It began to detach itself from the man, and my blood finally began to move again.

I screamed and yanked desperately at my leg. It was still held firmly in the man's clutch. The shadow squirmed closer, crawling up the man's shoulders, onto his head, then onto his arm.

I reached frantically around for the blade. I must have dropped it somewhere with the bags. I felt the shadow's cool touch for only a moment, and then the man's body was gone. Another shadow took its place. The heart I had seen before descended into the creature's chest.

There was a moment of hesitation from the first shadow, and I took it to run. My palms scraped painfully against the street as I pushed myself up to my feet. I left my belongings and dashed towards the doorway. My hands were ramming open the door, tripping over my own feet, when I heard a grunt from somewhere behind me. I faltered for an instant. Another victim.

The shadow's eyes stared back at me even behind my eyelids. I steeled myself and shook the thought from my head. I rushed through the doors and held them closed behind me. My knees gave out against the door. My head pounded, but my ears searched for more screams. There were none. It was silent.

Then, there was a knock. The sound ripped a wet gasp from my lungs. My hands shook violently against the door handles.

"Hey." A gentle pressure was pushing open the door. The door's movement stopped as soon as it bumped against my knees. I could just barely make out a face. A mouse?

"Are you alright over there?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts practically owns me at this point. Enjoy Chapter 2!

* * *

 **2**

"Hello?" The squeaky voice snapped me back into reality.

My eyes met his. Dark, inky, but warm. He didn't try to force his way into the first district. He stood there, calm and waiting for my response.

"H-how…" My voice trailed off. My mind tripped over the sight in front of me.

I didn't want to offend, but – "A mouse."

A chuckle rumbled through the little body in front of me. The mouse-man couldn't be any bigger than the little boy living in the end room of the hotel's first floor, but there was an aged atmosphere about him.

My breathing was becoming more even now, but no words were coming out.

"May I?" His voice was soothing despite its high pitch. His gaze didn't stray from mine as he carefully pushed the door open further. His strength was another surprise. He was moving _me_ back _with the door_.

Our eye contact broke from a sudden movement I caught over his right shoulder.

"Behind you!" I screeched. The door shut in my face faster than I could blink. I reached for the door handle, but I couldn't make myself pull it.

There were clashes and grunts, but I didn't hear the mouse-man's screams. I took that as a good sign. I rose to stand on shaky legs. My left ear pressed firmly into the wood in front of me.

Again, it was silent.

And then the door burst open. The mouse-man had somehow scooped all of my forgotten bags into his paws. This was the first good look that I had gotten of him. He didn't look any more normal than I thought.

"Now, where were you headed?"

* * *

"You're a king?" I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice. "Of where?"

I immediately saw the offense he took at my comment. I hurried to explain myself.

"You just seem so…" My fingers fiddled with the lid on a container of armor pieces for the moogles upstairs. An array of merchandise was strewn across the floor in the back corner of the shop. The mystery mouse-man was helping me sort through the items from the shipment. Once I had finally managed to pop off the lid, he had finished my sentence for me.

"Small?" His tone was teasing, but there was a taste of grumpiness in his voice. Like he had heard this before.

"Young!" My voice blurted out after him. "Young," I carried a stack of synthesis texts to the ladder leading to the shop's second floor. "And free-spirited," A single document slipped from the front cover of one of the books, floating back over to the mess of stock. I kneeled to pick it up, grabbing the worn paper from underneath the coffee table.

As I crawled back out, I found his stare again. An almost imperceptible eyebrow was raised as he waited for me to continue my thought.

"And small." I admitted. I looked at the paper to keep from seeing the king's pout. A familiar name caught my eye in the document. I took a moment to read the contents, but it was all gibberish to me. I brushed it off.

"Listen, it's just unexpected, you know, but that doesn't mean you aren't qualified. I don't even know you. I'm a complete stranger. What does my first impression matter? I mean, the way you took out those-" The thought of those shadows made my voice die out in my throat. The room started to spin, so I moved to sit down on the floor.

Mouse-man disappeared for a moment to return with a can of tea that was stored in a little refrigerator behind the shop counter. I wondered for a moment how he could have possibly known it was there, but the thought drifted away when the cool tin settled in my hands. I pressed the can to my forehead without skipping a beat.

"When I'm panicky, I ramble." I explained. "It's a common trait. Mine just tends to offend more than others." I traced circles into my knee, a nervous habit that I quite couldn't remember where I picked up.

A snicker sounded from somewhere above me. I focused on my breathing as the room vibrated around me. Although the shop was completely lit, tiny shadows danced across the walls and tucked into the corners of the space. My heart clenched painfully. It took me a couple tries to pop the tab of the can open. I swallowed large gulps of the drink until my throat felt less like sandpaper.

"I'm sorry." I turned to meet his eyes. They were sad. "I never got your name." Mouse-man smiled at me.

"Mickey. Mickey Mouse."

* * *

"She really doesn't remember." Mickey mumbled into his chest. His sight was blurry as he tried to focus on the trinket in his lap. The hurt was obvious on his face. A few tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

"The attack took more from her than we previously thought." Merlin's wise voice wavered slightly. Mickey sniffled and nodded.

There was a pregnant pause where neither man found any words to speak. There really wasn't anything else they wanted to say. It was too raw of a subject to even think about, let alone speak on.

Merlin was the one to break the quiet.

"Would you like to check up on the other?" He spoke cautiously. He had never seen the king so distraught. He didn't want to know what any more bad news could do to him.

King Mickey stood from his spot on the spare bed, pocketed the memento, and sluggishly made his way to Merlin's side. He dragged a heavy hand down his face before looking towards his friend. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Please." Mickey spoke softly. Merlin turned his attention to a thick journal on the table in front of him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat before opening it.

The book acted as if it had a mind of its own. The papers flew to a specific page without any command.

As it settled, the two took a closer look.

* * *

After Mr. Mouse left, Cid finally arrived back at the shop. It's not like there had been any customers to worry about during that time. It was eerily quiet actually.

Cid had told me that I wasn't the only one to experience an attack from a heartless. That's what the people were calling them. Heartless. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it was a new threat to Cid.

He went into lock down mode when I told him I had seen one as well. He made demands of schedules and curfews, like he was my dad. The thought sent a cold chill straight to my core. I swallowed down the annoyance that I felt from his tone, knowing it was just because he cared. He was the one that was keeping this family together.

"So, where were _you_?" I asked the question casually, but he had kept me worried for the past hour and a half as I had waited for him to show up.

His stare became glossy, almost faraway. The reaction was enough to further spur my curiosity. I waited for him to answer my question, but he didn't.

I sighed. Cid always had his secrets. I guess, some of them he couldn't even share with his family.

"You know, never mind. It's fine." I muttered. I let his meal clatter onto the counter between us and turned back to the shipment. I had organized pretty much everything, only a few stray gummi blocks rested on the armor display case.

"Emme." He sounded apologetic, but I didn't care to look if he didn't care to tell me what was going on.

"No, really. Don't worry about it." I tried to speak passively. There was a bite to my words, but I didn't fully know where it was coming from. Deep down, I knew Cid would never do anything to hurt me. But, I just had this anger. It was bubbling up from my heart and burning at my throat. Maybe it was because those golden eyes were still leering at me in the back of my mind.

As I neared the glass case, one particular block stood out from the rest. I was reaching for it without thinking much of anything. It took me several moments to be able to realize the difference with this block. There was a distinct imprint in the shape of a mouse.

"Was this part of an order?" I asked Cid as I ran my fingers across the block's smooth surface.

"Emmersyn, put that down!" The panic in his voice made me whip around to face him. I pressed my thumb onto the mouse insignia, hearing the click of a button.

And then I was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This story is always in my mind, but all of the new trailers for KH3 and an actual release date (that will hopefully not be pushed back again, dear God) inspired me to continue writing this story. Once again, I own nothing but my characters.

 **3**

It was dark. Frighteningly so. Wherever I was, it was terribly dark.

My arms spread out in front of me, lamely searching for something to grasp onto. My hands touched something metal, flinching back at the sudden coolness. I released a shaky sigh before closing my fists around the object. It was sturdy and didn't move despite my tugging on it.

I warily stretched out my fingers, moving my arms in vast, arc-like motions. A keyboard? I pressed down on the nearest button, hoping at the very least for something to light up and I could finally see again. A fleeting uneasiness swirled around in my stomach when I remembered the last button I pressed that brought me here.

I was blinded by the lights snapping on above me. I blinked rapidly until the blurry screen in front of me took shape.

It was a sea of stars. Billions upon billions of them twinkled and danced across the massive, black expanse. I leaned closer, trying to soak in as much as possible. No matter how much I looked, I still felt starved for more.

I finally dragged my eyes away to take stock of my surroundings. Two chairs, a control panel, a winding staircase leading down to a lower floor. The room was rather barren when I actually got a clear look at it.

I turned back to face the control panel and searched for anything that looked familiar. Something that I could recognize. Cid was always talking about these damn ships, but he never let me step foot into his.

There was a button, located near the right edge of the board. It was shaped like a mouse, just like the block that had sent me here. My fingers traced the edges of the button, my mind racing over the possibilities. I pressed down before I could convince myself otherwise.

I didn't have any time to react. My body flung backwards, the ship coming to life around me. My hip smashed painfully into the armrest of – what I could only assume was – the pilot's chair.

My hands gripped fiercely onto the base of the chair. My mind couldn't catch up with what was going on. I was scared.

I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, fighting back the tears. There wasn't time to cry right now. I felt a surge of energy course through my body, yanking my legs above my head to wrap them around the back of the chair.

With a jolt, the shaking finally calmed, but my body was too tense to move.

"Where…" I asked myself, cautiously detangling my limbs from the main pilot chair. My rigid muscles relaxed at touch of the cold, tiled floor. I took a long moment to collect myself.

When I confidently felt that the ship wouldn't roar to life again, I pushed myself onto my knees. Using the chair to stabilize my weak legs, I made my way to the control panel once again.

No more mouse buttons.

My fingers hovered over another button that caught my eye. The image resembled a crude drawing of a simple camera. If I could contact Cid someway, he could help me out. Similarly, if I contacted Cid, I would have hell to pay for disappearing like I did. I braced myself before pushing down on that button.

The screen in front of me fuzzed into focus. Before me, stood two lively, little chipmunks, hopping towards the camera. Their voices reached unimaginably high frequencies, my hands cradling my ears to block out the sound.

"Your majesty!" I was able to recognize those words being chanted over and over.

The two characters looked exceedingly similar despite two slight variances. One of the small rodents was tinted a slight darker color of brown than the other, and the nose of the lighter shone a ruby red rather than a dull black. They both sported dirty work aprons that were stained darker than their original tan color. A deep, blue pocket was sloppily sewed into the front of each uniform at haphazard angles and the familiar mouse insignia was stamped in the center of both pockets.

"What's going on, your majesty? There's no image on your side of the call." One of the chipmunks squeaked disappointedly. A frown pulled down the sides of his lips as he fiddled with the keyboard in front of him.

"Image?" I hummed quietly to myself. "Image, image, image…" I spoke as my eyes flitted across the control panel. What would an "image" button look like? Another simple drawing was scribbled atop a nearby button. It was a plain smiley-face bordered by a wobbly box. Once I pressed it, a small recording of myself materialized into the corner of the screen.

"There!" I smiled triumphantly. "Can you see me now?" I questioned the two chipmunks, attempting to forget the fact that less than a day ago, I would have been shocked to say that I was actually communicating with an animal-like being.

"Who- Who are you?!" The two jumped away from their screen in shock.

"What are you doing in this vessel?" I saw one of the chipmunks dive to end the call, and my mouth started running on reflex.

"You see, it was an accident. I met this man – or rather this mouse – and he must have left behind this gummi block. I picked it up when sorting out my new shipment and-" I spoke quickly, disregarding the peculiarity of my story. It looked like they knew the King. If they were anything like him, they would be nice enough to help me.

The two soaked up every bit of my retelling of today's events. They didn't interrupt me much, only giving nods and sounds of agreement when necessary. Once I was finished, they hurried into action.

One of the brothers – Chip I believe his name was – remained near the screen to ask me simple questions of worry about my health, while the other worked feverishly at something in front of him on the far side of the room.

"Stay right there! We'll open the hangar in just a moment!" The other brother, Dale, yelled over from his side of the workshop. After that, my screen returned to the magnificent view of stars.

Within moments, my gummi ship jolted backward, forcing me to brace myself against the armrests of the chair behind me.

The ship moved gently, allowing me a chance to see the environment change around me. A metal door closed before me, shutting out the vast stretch of space I had been enraptured by moments before. There were walls closed in around the ship, barely brushing against the sides as it continued backwards.

There were multiple windows lining the metal tube, permitting a peak of stars as I passed. It didn't take long before the ship reached a harsh halt.

I pushed against the armrests to stand, nervously ambling over to the door I assumed I could use to exit. The door swung open to what looked like an empty workroom. I swept my eyes over the area before glancing down.

Chip and Dale smiled sympathetically at me, leaping onto the exit ramp's handrail on either side of me. Both brothers offered me a tiny paw and led me down the stairs.

At first glance, their workshop was rather small. Computer screens lined the walls almost from floor to ceiling. The room looked like it was made from the same metal as the ships, squeaky clean and sparkling from every angle.

In addition to the abundance of tech in the room, there were mounds of texts littered across every inch of desk and floor. It was so entirely different than what Cid's workshop used to look like back home.

"So, 'Emme', was it?" Chip asked as he scrambled onto their computer desk. Dale followed shortly after.

"Emmersyn in full, but my friends call me Emme." I informed them. I wasn't always very good with strangers, but I strangely felt like I could trust these two.

The brothers shared a funny look between them. Was it something I said? Before I could comment on it, they were back to their cheery selves.

"Could we take you to the castle, Emme?" Dale asked sweetly. It was hard to decline, but I had to get back to Traverse Town.

"Oh, I'd hate to take up too much of your time. I should probably be heading back. Cid-" The thought of Cid made me clam up. Would he be worried about me? He was acting oddly recently, never telling me who he was with or where he was for long periods of time.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a short visit." I decided. Cid would be fine for a day or so. I'd find him as soon as I hit land in Traverse Town.

"Perfect! Right this way!" Chip and Dale sang together as they dropped to the floor in front of me.

As we walked, I felt an instinctual pull to finger the trinket I always left in my pocket. It was always a comfort when experiencing new places. I held onto it for weeks after arriving in Traverse Town, and the habit stuck.

I felt my breath still when the trinket wasn't there. I swiftly turned to face the ship.

"I… I think I left something in the ship! Just a second!" I yelled over my shoulder, taking two steps at a time on the entrance ramp.

I immediately fell to my knees, searching the area underneath the control panel. My charm was nowhere in sight. I flipped onto my side to check around the seats.

"Where could it be?" I mumbled worriedly to myself. "Ah!" I gasped when my finger touched the familiar cool touch of the stones. I carefully untangled the cord from the base of the chair, relishing in the fact that it was unharmed.

"Found you." I cradled it close to my chest until my breathing returned to normal.

I neatly pocketed the charm, scolding myself for losing it in the first place. As I neared the ship's exit, I heard the two brothers conversing in particularly hushed tones. I could barely make out what they were saying.

"So, heartless have finally popped up in Traverse Town." Chip uttered solemnly to his brother.

"Do you think she could be-?" Dale responded anxiously. Were they talking about me?

"She certainly looked like it." Chip interrupted.

"But, she didn't recognize anything. Wouldn't she remember-?" Dale added. He couldn't hide the disappointment laced into his voice.

"Queen Minnie will know." Chip sounded very sure about that.

"You're right. Queen Minnie will know." Dale agreed.

I rested my back onto the wall beside me. Who was this 'Queen Minnie'? I didn't know if I would like to know.


End file.
